Phishing
Most email accounts receive lots of unsolicited email, also called spam. While you can easily delete unwanted email, spam is an annoyance to many people as well as potentially being harmful. More and more…
We’re also seeing a lot more ‘phishing’ emails. This is where an email is sent from a third party, saying they are from your bank, asking you to click on a link to confirm/update your security information. The page you get directed to usually looks exactly like the bank's page and when you enter your account and security information, you may get forwarded to the real login page, or have to click another link to login to your account.
What really happens is you actually send your account and security details to someone who wants to get away with your money. Some junk email uses social engineering to tell you about a contest you've won, or details of a product you might fancy. Pretty obviously, the sender wants you to interact with the email in a way that's financially beneficial. To them.
Some junk email uses social engineering to tell you about a contest you've won, or details of a product you might fancy. Pretty obviously, the sender wants you to interact with the email in a way that's financially beneficial. To them.
So, who can you trust?
Well, The Co-operative Bank for one. Our emails never ask for personal details. The only time we'll need those is when you're securely logged on to your account.
But if you do get an email asking for personal information it's best to delete it right away. There could be a dodgy dealer on the other end.
The Co-operative Bank has a super secure banking system . That means hackers can't access our systems so they have to try another way. Their alternative is to trick you into giving them access to your account. That's what these emails try and do.
Please DON'T respond to any such email. Remember - The Co-operative Bank would never ask a customer to re-register their security details. And we'll never ask for your security details until you're safely logged into your account.
The best advice we can give for e-mails you're unsure of is, don't open them. If you use an e-mail program like Outlook, Eudora or Notes, it's a good idea to turn off your 'Preview Pane' too. Finally, if you receive an attachment you weren't expecting, or you don't know whom it's from, don't open them. If you haven't received an email virus or worm yet, you will. Sorry, but it's only a matter of time.
Every time you receive a message with an attachment, test it with these criteria.
- The Know test: Is the email from someone that you know?
- The Received test: Have you received email from this sender before?
- The Expect test: Were you expecting email with an attachment from this sender?
- The Sense test: Does email from the sender make sense? For example, would the sender - let's say your Mother - send you an email message with the Subject line, "Here you go, ;o)" containing a message with the attachment AnnaKournikova.jpg.vbs? A message like that probably doesn't make sense. In fact, it's an instance of the Anna Kournikova worm and reading it can damage your system.
- The Virus test: Does this email contain a virus? To determine this, you need to install and use an anti-virus program. Alternatively, use an email service that checks viruses for you.
Some email systems provide additional benefits at no extra cost. Hotmail uses the McAfee scan to look for viruses in your email attachments before they send you it. If the email looks like it contains a virus you will be given a warning before you open it.
